Back delt fly

The back delt fly is an excellent move for strengthening the back of the shoulders and upper back and for improving your posture.

Getting set
Hold a dumbbell in each hand and sit on the edge of a bench. Lean forward from your hips so your upper back is flat and above parallel to the floor (if you can, support your chest against your knees). Let your arms hang down so your palms are facing each other with the weights behind your calves and directly under your knees. Pull your chin back and in and draw your abdominals inward. See photo A.

The exercise
Raise your arms up and out to the sides, bending your elbows a few inches as you go until your elbows are level with your shoulders. Squeeze your shoulder blades together as you lift. Slowly lower your arms back down. See photo B.

Do’s and don’ts

• DO keep your chin tilted slightly toward your chest throughout the motion so your head and neck don’t drop forward.
• DO lean forward from your hips instead of rounding your back.
• DON’T allow the rest of your body to move as you do the exercise.

Other options

• Back delt row: Use the same starting position except orient your palms backward. As you lift the weights, you need to bend your elbows more than in the basic version.
• Cable back delt fly: If you have a history of neck pain, try the cable back delt fly version. Set the cable on the setting closest to the floor; hook up a horseshoe handle. Kneel alongside the cable tower and grasp the handle in the hand that’s farthest away from the tower. (The cable passes underneath your body.) Squeeze your shoulder blade and lift your arm up to the side, as in the basic version. Do the same number of reps with each arm.
• Standing back delt fly: Do the same exercise while standing with your feet placed as wide as your hips. Lean forward so that your torso forms a 45-degree angle with the floor. Keep your abs pulled in to protect your lower back and resist any rocking movement.

Front raise

The front raise isolates the front portion of your shoulder muscles. Use caution if you have a history of lower back or neck discomfort.

Getting set
Hold a dumbbell in each hand and stand up tall with your feet as wide as your hips. Let your arms hang down at your sides — elbows relaxed and palms facing back. Stand up tall, pull your abdominals in, and relax your knees. See photo A.

The exercise
Raise your right arm up to shoulder height and then lower it back down. Then do the same with your left arm. Continue alternating until you complete the set. Or, for more of a challenge, do all your reps with one arm and then the other. See photo B.

Do’s and don’ts

• DO keep your elbows slightly bent as you perform the exercise.
• DON’T arch, lean back, or wiggle around in an effort to lift the weight.
• DON’T lift your arm above shoulder height.

Other options

• Palms-up front raise: Turn your palm up and do the exercise exactly as it’s described in the basic front raise. Try this version if you’re prone to shoulder or rotator cuff injuries.
  
• Diagonal front raise (harder): When the dumbbell is at shoulder height, move your arm a few inches in until the weight is in front of the top of your chest. Skip this version if you have chronic shoulder problems.
• Seated front raise (harder): Perform the front raise sitting on a bench with a back support; this position removes any possibility of cheating!
• Lying front raise (harder): Lie on your stomach on a bench holding a dumbbell in each hand, arms straight in front of you (or slightly out to the side), palms facing in and thumbs up. Raise the dumbbells as high as you comfortably can but no higher than shoulder level. You’ll have to use a much lighter weight for this version of the exercise. You can also incline the bench and do the same exercise.

Lateral raise

The lateral raise works the center of your shoulder muscles. Make sure that you use stellar technique if you have neck or lower back problems.

Getting set
Hold a dumbbell in each hand and stand up tall with your feet as wide as your hips. Bend your elbows a little, turn your palms toward each other, and bring the dumbbells together in front of the tops of your thighs. Pull your abdominals in. See photo A .

The exercise
Lift your arms up and out to the side until the dumbbells are just below shoulder height. Slowly lower the weights back down. It may help to imagine that you’re pouring two pitchers of lemonade on the floor in front of you. See photo B.

Do’s and don’ts

• DO lift from the shoulders; in other words, keep your elbows stationary.
• DON’T arch your back, lean backward, or rock back and forth to lift the weights.
• DON’T raise the weights above shoulder height.

Other options
Bent-arm lateral raise (easier): Start with your arms bent at a 90-degree angle, palms facing each other, and the dumbbells in front of your body. Keeping your elbows bent at 90 degrees throughout the motion, lift the weights until your elbows are at shoulder height. The bent-arm lateral raise exercise doesn’t give your shoulders quite as good a workout as the basic version, but if you have weak shoulders or a history of shoulder problems, you can do this modified version of the lateral raise exercise.
Seated lateral raise: For a change of pace, perform the lateral raise exercise sitting on a bench, starting with your arms hanging straight down at your sides, elbows slightly bent.
Thumbs-up lateral raise (easier): Do this movement with your palms facing forward and your thumbs pointing upward. This version places the least stress on your rotator cuff muscles and is often used in physical therapy.

Dumbbell shoulder press

The dumbbell shoulder press targets the top and center of your shoulder muscles. This exercise also works your upper back and triceps. Use caution if you have lower back, neck, or elbow problems.

Getting set
Hold a dumbbell in each hand and sit on a bench with back support. Plant your feet firmly on the floor about hip-width apart. Bend your elbows and raise your upper arms to shoulder height so the dumbbells are at ear level. Pull your abdominals in so there’s a slight gap between the small of your back and the bench. Place the back of your head against the pad. See photo A.

The exercise
Push the dumbbells up and in until the ends of the dumbbells are nearly touching directly over your head and then lower the dumbbells back to ear level. See photo B.

Do’s and don’ts

• DO keep your elbows relaxed at the top instead of locking them.
• DO stop lowering the dumbbells when your elbows are at or slightly below shoulder level.
• DON’T let your back arch a great degree off the back support.
• DON’T wiggle or squirm around in an effort to press the weights up.

Other options
Palms-in dumbbell press (easier): Do this exercise with your palms facing each other. This position allows your wrists and biceps muscles to help execute the movement.

Avoiding Mistakes When Training Your Shoulders

For many avid weight lifters, shoulder injuries don’t happen overnight. We know countless people who’ve lifted for years, sometimes ignoring minor shoulder pain, and then — pop! — they’re finished. Kaput. But what they perceive as a sudden injury is actually the result of years of overuse and poor form. Avoid the common mistakes to keep your shoulders strong and healthy.

Exaggerating the movement
If the instructions say lift the dumbbell “to shoulder height,” don’t lift the weight up to the ceiling, because lifting your arm to this unnatural angle adds undue stress to the joint with little advantage for increasing muscle tone. In other words, the risk of injury from lifting higher outweighs any minimal benefit of getting slightly stronger by increasing the size of the movement.

Arching your back
When you perform shoulder exercises while sitting on a vertical bench, make sure that you only have a slight gap between the small of your back and the backrest. Yes, arching your back gives you more leverage to lift heavier weights, but arching also cheats the muscles that you’re targeting and puts your lower back in a vulnerable position — causing injury.

Rocking back and forth
When you perform shoulder exercises while standing, relax your knees and maintain a tall posture. Many people lock their knees and lean back, a posture that your lower back muscles don’t appreciate. If you’re moving any body parts other than your arms, you aren’t targeting your shoulder muscles, and you’re using too much weight.

Performing behind-the-neck shoulder exercises
You’re likely to see lifters press a barbell overhead and then lower it behind the neck rather than in front. Some shoulder machines also involve behindthe-neck movements. Stay away from these exercises! They require a severe backward rotation of your arm, placing your shoulder and rotator cuff muscles in a weakened and precarious position. The movement also compresses the top of your arm bone into your shoulder socket, which tends to grind the bones and place your rotators under a great deal of additional stress. Always keep in mind that the benefit of any exercise should outweigh the risk. Suzanne, who knows better than to perform these exercises, nevertheless did a set of behind-the-neck shoulder presses while training for a weight lifting competition. The next day she couldn’t reach her left arm backward without wincing in agony — nor could she press a measly 5-pound dumbbell overhead without severe pain. Only after seven months of rest and rehab exercises did her rotator cuff injury begin to heal. Suzanne learned her lesson the hard way and now cringes when she sees people at her gym performing the very exercise that ruined her workouts for months.

Getting a Great Shoulder Workout

You can strengthen your shoulder muscles in through four main types of shoulder movements (although dozen of ways exist). Perform the following exercises in the order that they’re listed. In general, you lift the heaviest weights while pressing and the lightest weights while doing back fly movements.

• Press: Straighten your arms up over your head. Shoulder-press exercises work the entire shoulder muscle.
• Lateral raise: Raise your arms from your sides out to shoulder level. Lateral raises focus on the top and outside portions of the muscle.
• Front raise: Raise your arms from your sides directly in front of you. Front raises work the front and top of the deltoid.
• Back fly: Bend over from the hips as far as your flexibility permits to align your lift against the pull of gravity. Your chest should be as close to parallel to the ground as possible. Raise your arms out to the sides, working the rear and outside portions of the muscle.

From time to time, vary the order of your exercises to target your weaker muscles first and to provide a variety of stimulation for the muscle group to optimize conditioning. You needn’t include all four types of exercises in each shoulder workout, but you should aim to perform each type on a regular basis so you develop evenly balanced shoulder muscles. (Later in this chapter, you find out several variations of each exercise, as well as a few other shoulder movements that don’t fall into these categories.) Perform shoulder exercises with free weights rather than machines. Often, the motion feels unnatural with the machine and places excess strain on the neck. For people of diverse sizes, such as petite women, aligning the machine properly can be hard, especially on a machine that’s designed for a larger man’s body.

Enjoying Strong Shoulders

Your shoulders do a fair amount of work whenever you perform back and chest exercises, but performing exercises that single out your delts are also important for the following reasons:

• Real-life benefits: Strong shoulders make most arm movements easier, whether you’re beaning your brother with a snowball, passing the potatoes across the table, or lifting your “a little too heavy” suitcase. Virtually every upper body exercise involves your shoulder muscles to some extent, so strengthening your shoulders enables you to lift heavier weights on chest and back exercises.
• Injury prevention: If your shoulders are weak, they’re going to take a beating even if you perform chest and back exercises perfectly. Shoulder exercises also can prevent weekend-warrior type injuries, such as shoulder tears from swinging a sledgehammer, a torn rotator cuff from a softball tournament, or slapping a puck into the garbage can that serves as your hockey goal. If your shoulders are weak, you can even injure yourself while opening a dresser drawer.
• Self-confidence factor: Open up any bodybuilding magazine and you see headlines such as, “Grow Those Big Caps Even Bigger” or “Delts to Die For.” Bodybuilders take their shoulder training seriously because they know that these muscles play a big part in their appearance, which, after all, is what bodybuilding is all about. Even if you don’t want to build competition-level delts, you can still develop toned, shapely shoulders and reclaim your confidence to wear sleeveless shirts. (Although you should wear sleeveless shirts any time that you please. But a toned shoulder muscle may put a little pep in your sleeveless step.)